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Liverpool’s game against Atalanta last night promised so much but ultimately descended into deep disappointment.

The Reds had always been unlikely to progress to the Europa League semi-finals last night having lost the first-leg 3-0.

However, after Mohamed Salah converted an early penalty, Liverpool looked to be in business.



One being goalkeeper Alisson Becker getting more minutes under his belt.

However, the Brazilian left the match with a slightly unwanted record to his name.

It’s great to have Alisson back out there for Liverpool.

Although he did still have a couple of smart stops to perform, Alisson’s task was more about how he could use the ball.

With Atalanta pressing high and shutting off passing lanes, the 31-year-old was too often left pondering what to do in possession.

Ultimately, Alisson ended up going forwards and sideways to Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister and Ibrahima Konate a little too much.

It had felt like the goalie had the ball a lot watching the match.

And as per Opta statistician Michael Reid on X, that bore out in the numbers.

“Alisson completed 82 passes tonight – the most by any player in the match, and the most by a goalkeeper in a match on Opta’s records in either the Europa League (from 2009-10) or Champions League (from 2003-04),” says Reid.

It’s natural to wonder what someone like Man City’s Ederson would have done with such possession, but it’s unlikely he’d have been able to do much more.

Atalanta were simply too effective at closing off passing lanes for Alisson.